Phone Tangle

I felt tangled up in knots coloring this… oh yes, trying to calm myself with pencils while waiting for the phone to ring, if they ever return my calls.

My table is in Youngstown! Or Cleveland. Somewhere Else… not HERE.

I was a bit worried. The tracking status was updated twice yesterday, first to say that it had arrived at the delivery terminal, and then, just a few minutes later, an ominous status:

AT DELIVERY TERMINAL, MESSAGE LEFT FOR CUSTOMER

Message? What message? Oh sheeez… panic sets in. It must be a message with a phone number to call, but I did not get the message so I don’t have the number so I cannot schedule a delivery date or time. I was home at the time stamp moment, was I on the phone? Maybe. But, I’m not sure. THINK! When I was on the phone, did anyone try to beep in? No. And I do not have voice mail service on my home phone. I don’t even have an answering machine. So, if they left a message somewhere, they did NOT call MY phone. Did they call someone else? Did I give them MY number? It looks familiar… but, I don’t usually call myself and I’ve been known to twirl some digits. Best double-check: use cell phone to dial number posted as mine on tracking website. Yes, the house phone rang. Next? Time to make some phone calls.

I called the 1-866 number for the trucking company on the tracking website and talked to a woman who transferred my call to their Cleveland terminal. That guy told me that my table had been transferred to another trucking company, who handles the home delivery phase. He gave me a bogus “Youngstown” phone number so I could call to schedule delivery.

Yes, it was a bogus number that rang someone’s house in Cleveland. Maybe I wrote it down wrong. So I re-called the 1-866 number four more times (never reached a human) before searching the internet for the secondary trucking company. I called their nearest terminal (in Cleveland) and, after being transferred to someone’s voicemail, I left a “please call me” message.

And, that was where I was, mentally and phonetically (which I know, means something else, but it would be a cool word to use to describe phone tag situations) when I set down to try to calm my fears by drawing out emotions with colored pencils.

I was totally okay during the “in transit” phase. But, now that my table is so close and yet so far away, I feel complete uncertainty, as if this is the risky phase as indeed, it is… this is the first item that I have dared to purchase online since one of my lovely neighbors inside this so-called “limited access” apartment building with pretend security stole my neck. The number one suspect (a woman who lost over 100 pounds on the Crack diet) has since moved, but… based on occasional whiffs of odd odors floating into open windows, there are still individuals residing in or around this building who partake in highly addictive recreational pharmaceuticals. I don’t trust any of them as far as I can spit, which is barely off my shoes.

I feel a bit better tonight because they did call back…. we have a date and time! And, I have to sign for it! Yes, a signature required is a very good thing… it means that they can’t just pull up and dump it off at the curb.

The only bad note (yes, I asked) per policy of that big box store that I ordered it from (who did not have this tidbit of information posted on their website): the delivery men can bring it to the MAIN door, but CANNOT bring it to my apartment door inside this building. Did I mention that this table comes un-assembled inside a huge 83 pound box? They can place it INSIDE the main door so it will be out of the elements… maybe I can smile pretty and ask them to place it ON the stairs and kind of give it a nice little push? Oh… worst case scenario: I’ll sit on it and phone for help.

Thank you for viewing my art today! It is a controlled frustration piece.

Thank you Monica. I’m glad you like it, perhaps I’ll try some others in this style. As for the troubles, my worries were for not… the table arrived just fine and, with the help of a young man, made it safely to my apt without any issues. 😀